Famed Inventor Dean Kamen Coming to Utah

Contact:
Vincent Horiuchi
Public Relations Associate
University of Utah College of Engineering
(w) (801) 585-7499
vincent.horiuchi@utah.edu

Famed Inventor Dean Kamen Coming to UtahProgram founder to support Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in West Valley City

March 11, 2015 – Renowned inventor and entrepreneur, Dean Kamen, best known for designing the Segway Personal Transporter and founder of the FIRST science and technology student program, will be in Utah Saturday, March 14, in support of this year’s Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

Kamen will be available for media interviews Saturday during the final day of the high school robotics event, which will be held at the Maverick Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City. Reporters can meet him near the game arena inside the stadium between 9:15 and 10 a.m.

In 1989, Kamen founded the non-profit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to promote science and technology for young people. The organization hosts the annual FIRST Robotics Competition in which high school students from around the world compete using robots they designed and built. This year’s regional competition at the Maverik Center will be held Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14, and features 53 teams from the western U.S. and Canada.

Kamen has been awarded more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents for technology that has revolutionized many medical devices, including today’s wearable insulin pump for diabetics. He has been awarded the National Medal of Technology in 2000 by President Bill Clinton, the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2002, and he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

Perhaps Kamen’s most well-known invention was the creation of the Segway Personal Transporter, the two-wheeled electric vehicle that riders balance their weight on to move and steer.

This year’s Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition is sponsored by the University of Utah’s College of Engineering, Platt Electric Supply, Larry H. Miller Group, Micron, LANDESK, Orbital ATK, L-3 Communications, the Utah Technology Council, and the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development.